Le Va's chief executive Monique Faleafa said reporting of suicide in Pacific island countries was freer than in New Zealand and the stories were being picked up elsewhere.

"With social media it doesn't matter what country it's on, it comes to our phones within seconds. It has a huge ripple effect impact across the region actually to Australia and New Zealand where our big Pacific populations are. Rather than be reactionary and focused on loss of life, we would love the media to be more talking about resilience and hope."

Dr Faleafa said Le Va's guidelines were helping to shift attitudes to talking about suicide in New Zealand.